By Jordan Jantz
Shannon Tacheny has always been an entrepreneur at heart. While studying communications in college, she ran a photography business part-time and was dreaming up a second venture. But taking a traditional 9-to-5 job seemed the normal path after graduation, and she began a job at a small business. It was there that she realized entrepreneurship could be the path for her.
Now, she’s been an entrepreneur for almost two decades, and running her creative services business, Feather Blue Studios, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Initially, she focused her business on photography and graphic design services, having studied photography during a semester abroad in Paris and adding a design minor in college. It was the perfect job to have flexibility when her kids were young. But along the way, she rediscovered her passion for marketing, a reckoning back to the marketing emphasis she also had in college. Today, Feather Blue Studios has grown into a full-service creative firm, offering photography, copywriting, design, and more.
Encouraging Women Along the Way
But the journey wasn’t without its challenges, and it’s these lessons learned along the way that she funnels into the advice she gives her clients through creative and coaching services. Tacheny’s specialty is the female entrepreneur market, and it’s become her mission to inspire women to build their own businesses.
“[I] see women trying to do it alone far too often,” she says. “We were designed for community, and there’s always going to be people who have strengths where we have weaknesses. Not to mention that being a female entrepreneur can be lonely at times.”
With years of experience, she’s seen the hard work, wins, and pitfalls it takes to build a business.
The Waiting Game
“Honestly, the biggest challenge I’ve found in growing a business has just been letting time do its thing,” Tacheny explains. “We live in such a fast-paced, instant world that when we put something out there, and we don’t see it working immediately, we take it personally or sheepishly step back or even pull the plug.”
As her own experience starting in photography and growing to offer a full suite of services shows, finding the perfect path immediately is not likely. Instead, she says that it’s important to prioritize steady growth and strategy.
“Something I now help women with is decision-making out of our priorities and values, as well as how to do the right things in the right order at the right time,” she explains. “But initially making these types of decisions alone feels very overwhelming.”
Focusing on the Bullseye
One of these decisions she learned when growing her own business was finding a target market. No business owner can please everyone, Tacheny says. And just like she designs her services for female entrepreneurs, she advises other entrepreneurs and small business owners to carve out a target niche.
“It can feel scary to create brand messaging that’s intentionally speaking to some people and intentionally letting others go,” she explains. “While it’s initially intimidating, in the end, it’s very freeing to create a business around a message and style that feels spot-on and aligned for our own personality, values, and style of work.”
Learning from the Losses
Despite the trial-and-error journey she had, Tacheny looks back positively on her own path as a business owner. She says that she never has to second-guess or ask “what if” because she had the courage to try new things and pivot early in her journey.
“I look back and value that I tried a lot of things and just went for it,” she says. “Most strong businesses are built on at least some amount of trial and error, so starting fast and strong and making quick decisions to try new things is something that helps you quickly separate what’s working and what’s not working, what’s bringing you joy and what’s draining you.”
And all her decisions have led her to where she is today: snapping photos, blogging, writing, strategizing, and helping women along the same journey she started back in college.
“I love that I get to support other purpose-driven women along this exhilarating journey now, as they step into their gifts and talents or the big dreams on their heart in even bigger ways,” she says.
If Shannon’s story shows anything, it’s how a dream and the courage to pursue it—through the highs and the lows—can grow into more than you ever imagined.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jordan Jantz is a freelance writer, editor, and website designer as well as the assistant editor at IW Features. Her work has spanned the nonprofit, small business, and scholarly worlds, but most of all, she is passionate about uplifting the message of hope and freedom. Find her at jantzwriting.com.
